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Forever Hip: Remembering Gord Downie

Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip has lost his courageous battle with brain cancer as he passed away today.

The team at Entertainment City took a look back at the life and career of the late, great Gord Downie covering everything from The Hip’s debut studio album in 1989 to Gord Downie being appointed a member of the Order of Canada “in recognition of outstanding Indigenous leadership” in June of this year.

“For 32 years they criss-crossed the country connecting Canadians and the love for the rock band that the rest of the world never really caught onto, but they never knew what the rest of us did.”

His family released the following statement:

Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by.

Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss… on the lips.

Gord said he had lived many lives. As a musician, he lived “the life” for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. No one.

We would like to thank all the kind folks at KGH and Sunnybrook, Gord’s bandmates, management team, friends and fans. Thank you for all the help and support over the past two years.

Thank you everyone for all the respect, admiration and love you have given Gord throughout the years – those tender offerings touched his heart and he takes them with him now as he walks among the stars.

Love you forever Gord.

The Downie Family

“You’re going to miss me. Wait and you’ll see. Fully, completely.”

That isn’t just a lyric from a 1993 Hip song (see below) and the name of their albums, but it also makes you want to say: “Yes Gord, you’re right. We do miss you.”

“Hello friends. We have some very tough news to share with you today, and we wish it wasn’t so.

A few months ago, in December, Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Since then, obviously, he’s endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard. In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we’ve been standing by him.”

In addition to Gord’s diagnosis, the band also revealed that they would be touring that summer:

“So after 30-some years together as The Tragically Hip, thousands of shows, and hundreds of tours…

We’ve decided to do another one.

This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us.

What we in The Hip receive, each time we play together, is a connection; with each other; with music and it’s magic; and during the shows, a special connection with all of you, our incredible fans.”

The Hip would go on to embark on their Man Machine Poem tour across Canada, which saw them play 15 shows in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, London, Hamilton, Ottawa and finally their hometown of Kingston, Ontario.

That final show on August 20th, 2016 at the Rogers K-Rock Centre was broadcast commercial-free across the CBC’s television, online and radio platforms and was watched by nearly 12 million Canadians; the CBC also reported that at some point nearly one-third of Canada’s population tuned in to watch Gord and The Hip perform (via The Toronto Star).

There were viewing parties set up all across the country, even in Rio de Janeiro, where Canada’s Olympic team were competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The concert was also attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the request of the band.